I am not a big ghosts and goblins guy but that doesn’t mean I am completely free of opinions and feelings on the subject. Every personal alarm bell that I have goes off when I see a car like this 1955 Chevy Bel Air wagon which was supposedly a car used to move Lee Harvey Oswald around in and a car that he actually took driving lessons in. His rifle was transported in the back and all of this was done by an innocent woman who had no idea that she was carting around one of the most infamous people in US history (conspiracy theorists may not agree). The car belonged to a Dallas, Texas area woman named Ruth Paine. It was during the 1963 time frame of the assassination that Lee Harvey Oswald’s wife Marina was living with Mrs. Paine. Apparently she and Oswald were on the outs and he was trying to mend fences.
Anyway, the car came up during the Warren Commission hearings when people were interviewed about Oswald. His barber mentioned that he had driven it to the place which got everyone all excited because to that point it was believed that he did not know how to drive. Apparently later in the investigation it was learned that Ruth Paine had been giving Oswald driving lessons in this very car so maybe that’s where he got his abilities from. Either way, the whole thing is creepy. At least to me it is.
The car itself is a great resto candidate because it is 100% original and intact. It has lots of patina and it needs lots of work but it is as complete a 1955 Chevy Bel Air wagon as you will ever find at this point in time. The only catch is that you have to live with the fact that it was a bit player in one of the most infamous acts in American history and the tools of that heinous crime were actually transported in the rear of it. Would anyone brag about this car’s history? I know I couldn’t.
I never advocate for things to be destroyed and I certainly wouldn’t like that end for this car, but I also wouldn’t pay a nickel to see it at a car show with a board in front of it proudly outlining its history. Tub it, put a twin turbo big block in the front of it and have some hot rod fun while exercising the demons that this one may possess!
Thanks to Justin Oney for the tip!
CHECK OUT WHAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE A COOL 1955 CHEVY BEL AIR WAGON INSTEAD IT IS A CREEP SHOW OF THE HIGHEST ORDER –
stranger still is why a lowly wagon would have power brakes
Power brakes were an option.
Not strange at all. Actually a pretty high option car being Bel Air v8/PS/PB.
Evil past? Definitely. Out of range of redemption? I don’t think so. (It is, however, likely to be out of my budget, so I won’t be bidding on it.)
Well … I would advocate the thing be stripped to bare metal … given a good exorcism [ just in case ] and then built into one serious resto mod /custom monster for the street … leaving behind any semblances of its past where they rightfully belong … deeply buried … in the past ..
After all .. it aint the damn cars fault who owned it back in the day
In fact … you know what ? Just to really leave its evil past behind … build it up as a resto mod custom surf wagon complete with flames … surf boards on top .. the full monty
Surf wagons being about the happiest hot rod / customs around 😉
Exorcism? You’ll have to start with the CIA. 😉
Well, the car is not inherently evil…it was just a inanimate object used in an evil scheme. IDGAF about that…build it, restore it…whatever…but, anyone who tries to show it as is and make it into a circus car with boards and news papers and other bullcrap can eat a bag of donkey dongs….
Oswald was the patsy, to use his own words. Read “Family of Secrets” about the Bushes. The CIA, the Mafia, the oil guys and LBJ all wanted both John and Bobby gone. Dallas was where all the CIA heavies were that day, per the Freedom of Information Act recently.
Yup. A whole lot more to that story than most folks care to learn.
There are many people who would be very interested in seeing this car. It is a piece of history that cannot be replaced.
I wouldn’t believe anything that Texas Classic Cars says…!
Build a big motor pro mod out of it. Call it KILLER 55. By the way, what ever happened to the project car the Valiant, Valiant Brian?
Seriously, you’re trying to blame the Kennedy assassination on Bush!?!??
Wow. Maybe Bush was wearing a Japanese mask as he dropped bombs on Pearl Harbor… Idiot.
ill take it I always wanted a 55
i would restore this car back to the way it was back then. This car is intact and all original which in itself is a rarity in itself.
Putting a big block in it and racing it is redunculous just because LHO was in it.
It’s a part of history regardless. I don’t see anyone lining up to demolish the school book depository, only people to visit it. No different with this car. I would go see it at a car show in a heartbeat.
I think it should be restored back to originality and show for a year then donate to museum.
Brian Williams was riding in that car when this all went down
Leave it as sits and put it in the National Archives in my opinion. question though Why does it look like someone offed themselves in the front seat from the stains? Any clue?
Dig up LBJ, put him in the back, and then use 20lbs of Semtex to push start it.